Credit: Walkling family home movies. Excerpt from "Putting up fence, March 1939." 16 mm. film. From the Walkling Family Collection at Northeast Historic Film, Bucksport, ME. MP4 video, 2:18. Cyclone Fence Company work crew.

Primary Format and Extent

14 film reels

Collection Date Range

1936 – 1940

Summary

The Walkling Family Collection contains 14 reels of amateur 16 mm. film. This collection consists of the home movies of Adolph Augustus and Marian Ware Walkling and their children, Richard and Robert. Primarily shot by Adolph Walkling, the film includes footage of family celebrations and a vacation to Ottawa, Illinois. Also significant is the inclusion of a reel of scenes from the family's visit to the Chicago World's Fair, Century of Progress International Exposition, in 1933 or 1934. The collection contains gardening and yard work at the Walkling family's home in Cynwyd, PA. While family members, including the children, are sometimes depicted, the main focus of this part of the footage is the progress of the gardening and landscaping projects. Family members, as well as hired workers, build a fence and plant trees, shrubs, and grass. Scenes of the garden, house, and surrounding neighborhood present the result of the gardening projects. The collection provides a view of how a family invested in and controlled their home environment in the late 1930s. The film contains footage of hired workers, including crews from two Philadelphia area businesses, the Cyclone Fence Company (Philadelphia, PA) and John Albrecht Nurseries (Narberth, PA).

Biographical/Historical Notes

Adolph Augustus Walkling was born in 1895 in Ottawa, Illinois. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1917, and eventually became a professor of surgery there. His wife, Marian Ware, was born in Salem, New Jersey, in 1897. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1919. The couple married in 1923, and had two children, Richard and Robert. The family lived in the Philadelphia area and built a home in Cynwyd, PA, in 1937. Adolph Walkling died in 1966. Marian Ware Walkling died in 1975.

NHF

Preserve

Without cold storage at low humidity, the film in your basement or your neighbor's attic cracks, rots, and fades, and part of our region's history is lost. NHF staff members have the skills and tools to preserve your valued moving images.

Explore

There are many ways to explore, use, and share our moving images and associated materials for research, teaching, and the joy of discovery. Start by exploring the 300+ collections described online. Visit our store to preview DVDs for great gifts. Become a member to borrow videos.

Join

We need partners in our efforts to collect, preserve, and share northern New England's moving image history. Join educators, archivists, film enthusiasts, history buffs, and people who love the Alamo Theatre. Become a member today.